Amber Heard Says 'It Was a Constant Battle' with Johnny Depp Over Her Desire to Continue Acting

Amber Heard says she was always "really independent" and "never imagined not working," but Johnny Depp wanted her to stop acting and let him "take care of" her

Amber Heard says ex-husband Johnny Depp wanted her to quit acting and tried to control the types of roles she would take.

While she continued her testimony on Thursday, Heard, 36, described how Depp, 58, would call her "foolish and naive" and criticize her desire to continue in her acting career during their relationship. The pair met while making the movie The Rum Diary, and they later became romantic while promoting the film in 2011. She said their bond was "intense" from the start.

Heard previously testified about Depp taking issue with what she wore on a day-to-day basis and to events. She also said he would accuse her of cheating anytime she would spend time with someone else.

Giving an example of Depp allegedly trying to impede her career, Heard recalled sharing a script for a project she was interested in with Depp. "I read the script and thought this character was empowered sexually and by the time I got Johnny's feedback on it, I had been convinced that, actually, I was just being used. I was just being used," she said. "It was clear that was all I had to offer, and I was too foolish to see it."

Heard said she warmed up to the idea of moving in with Depp at his request because she wanted to "minimize some of the jealousy and insecurity that he had."

For more on the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

"It was hard for me to work, justify working. Every audition, every meeting, every script I got was a negotiation or a fight. I had to justify it as if I was to say, 'Hey, let's have an open relationship,' " she said. "I thought that would be minimized if I could make him feel more secure."

"I've always been really independent, and I never imagined not working. I've worked from the earliest time I can imagine. I come from parents who worked until they literally couldn't anymore," the Texas native said. "I never imagined myself having to explain my job or justify my job. But I did."

Depp wanted her to stop working, Heard said, and she would have to "bargain" with him and explain that she was financially supporting her parents and sister Whitney. "He would say, 'You don't have to work, kid. Let me take care of you. My woman doesn't have to work.' That sounds really sweet and really romantic in some way, but it became a real fight."

JIM LO SCALZO / POOL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Heard started turning down projects that included sex scenes, she said, and "eventually I had to change the wardrobe" and have "minimal makeup" in movies. "It didn't happen all at once, of course. It was little thing, after little thing, after little thing. ... It was a constant battle and negotiation."

During his time on the stand, Depp addressed Heard's accusation that he controlled her career opportunities, saying, "Ms. Heard had come to me and she seemed to be seriously concerned about how she was being portrayed in Hollywood. She was concerned that, because she had done films where there was kind of arbitrary nudity, things of that nature, she had voiced to me that she did not want to be looked upon that way in the industry. She wanted to be able to escape the chains of being objectified by the Hollywood system, which is a difficult thing for any woman certainly, unfortunately."

"She asked me, 'How can I avoid being stereotyped as the beautiful blonde who gets her breasts out or goes naked ...' and I gave her my advice on it, on how to avoid it, which I thought was pretty accurate," he said. "Her ambition was stronger than what she received from my advice."

After The Rum Diary, Heard starred in movies like 2015's Magic Mike XXL and The Danish Girl, and she debuted as Aquaman's Mera in 2017's Justice League. She recently appeared on the Stephen King series The Stand and returns for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom next year.

JIM LO SCALZO / POOL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation, arguing that her 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post about surviving domestic violence tarnished his reputation and ruined his career opportunities, even though she didn't mention him by name in the article. He has said that after Heard's allegations against him, he lost "nothing short of everything."

They married in 2015, then they broke up in May 2016, when Heard sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of abusing her. Depp denied the claims, and the former couple settled their divorce out of court in August 2016.

The star, who has said multiple times under oath that he has never struck Heard or any woman, has testified that his "goal is the truth" as he seeks to clear his name in the trial, which is being televised live via various outlets. When Heard took the stand yesterday, she told the jury, "I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is. This is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything."

Back in November 2020, Depp lost his highly publicized U.K. libel lawsuit case against British tabloid The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater." The court upheld the outlet's claims as being "substantially true" and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, the Pirates of the Caribbean star's attempt to overturn the decision was overruled.